The Netherlands Trip - January 2020

With the main UK theme park season drawing to a close in mid November, it’s become somewhat of a tradition to try and escape from the country for a few days to make the closed season feel a bit more bearable and give us the perfect opportunity to spend time with friends. In previous years, we have been able to travel to Phantasialand for their winter event but in the year 2020 (before the world locked down), we thought about travelling to somewhere different, somewhere special. With not many parks being able to open in full due to the cold conditions, we found a park that was open for every single day of the year - come rain or shine, summer or winter, Efteling was our choice. Having visited before during the summer season, it made sense to visit during the winter and see the park from another perspective. Additionally, some of the members of our group had never visited before - and knowing the magic that the park holds, we were excited to be able to share that and experience that joy of visiting for the first time all over again. 

The booking process was a relatively simple and straightforward task; we managed to organise the trip within the space of a few days around 6 weeks before our flight. With the benefit of a driver in our group, we didn’t need to worry about public transport in the country. We booked a cosy cabin on the outskirts of the park which made a pleasant place to relax and unwind after a long day in the park. Our flight was in the early hours of the morning from Stansted Airport and returning late evening 3 days later. All packed and prepared, we travelled to the airport the evening prior, and we were eagerly awaiting our journey back to one of the most captivatingly charming parks we’d ever experienced.

It always feels good to return to a theme park that holds many memories - even if you have visited before. On arrival, the park is grand and impressive, the natural scenery and opening paths that connect this picturesque plot of land never fail to amaze myself and those who had previously visited only a few months prior. For those in our group who were experiencing this park for the first time, it was unlike anything they had seen or had expected when visiting. The sheer size and scope of this landscape is stunning and captivating, made all the more beautiful with the winter decorations - a winter wonderland if you will. Snow as far as the eye can see, decorative wreaths bestowed upon entrance doors; the true essence of Christmas can be found here in this land of enchantment and magic.

Anyone who’s ever had the chance to visit Efteling before will know how magnificent this park is - it’s a firm favourite amongst Dutch people, and is world-renowned for having some of the best themed attractions, a lot of which were said to inspire Walt Disney himself. From phenomenal thrill rides to mesmerising dark rides, there’s something that ensures a memorable day out, no matter your age or interests. Something that makes Efteling stand out, and in our opinion puts Efteling in a league of its own, is the dark rides. The park features several sensational dark rides, our personal standouts being Droomvlucht and Symbolica. Droomvlucht, the park’s most popular attraction, takes riders on an fantastical flight into the wondrous and whimsical fairytale world, journeying through various scenes of delight, from breathtaking gardens to surreal space scenes. Paired with a dreamy and melodical soundtrack, the ride is like stepping back into your childhood make-believe memories. Symbolica is a much more recent attraction - a trackless dark ride opening in 2017, themed to a journey through the magical Palace of Fantasy, led by the park’s mascot, Pardoes. It’s impossible to summarise Symbolica in just one sentence - it’s one of the most unforgettable and unimaginable attractions out there, combining impressive technology with exquisite and quirky scenery, and it’s definitely something you have to experience yourself. This holds true for all of Efteling’s dark rides - no expense has been spared, no detail has been forgotten, so I can’t recommend them enough! Our whole group loved every single one of the dark rides; they’re truly some of the best in Europe and even the whole world, so it felt amazing to be able to introduce these very special rides to some first-time guests!

While Efteling doesn’t set out as such to create record breaking thrill rides, the park certainly doesn’t fall short in their roller coasters. The rides are made more accessible for the whole family by favouring theming and experience over intensity, resulting in some incredibly immersive thrill rides. Baron 1898 dominates over the Efteling skyline - it’s a beautiful story-led dive coaster, transporting riders into the mysterious world of the Baron himself, Gustave Hooghmoed.  Joris en de Draak is made up of two duelling GCI wooden coasters - unfortunately on our visit this was closed due to necessary maintenance, but especially on a long summer’s day, these coasters will never fail to exhilarate and excite you as you race against the other train to take down the dragon. Efteling also has a spectacular indoor Vekoma coaster named Vogel Rok, the perfect ride for the Winter season thanks to being weather-proof. We rode this coaster quite a few times, we couldn’t get enough of the sensation of darting through the dark in different directions! The park’s water coaster, De Vliegende Hollander, was sadly closed on this occasion as is standard during Winter Efteling, but in the summer season this ride is unmissable. It’s a fun and exciting ride, but the real highlight is the atmospheric and sinister dark ride beforehand - synchronised with an ominous yet eerily beautiful soundtrack. 

Visiting on two weekdays during January, it was the perfect chance to experience the entrancing Efteling at its quietest. This meant that we could take full advantage of short queues - in the evenings, we were able to re-ride Baron 1898 several times without even leaving the train. Combined with the breathtaking winter scenery, there was no shortage in joyful and festive ambience as we explored the rides and attractions, and of course the eccentric and charming Sprookjesbos - something absolutely not to be missed. 

We returned to our accommodation after our second day in the park, still reeling from the astonishing Aquanura, and still high on adrenaline after our 7-ride marathon on Baron 1898. However, the thrills were far from over. We had a morning spare before we had to catch our flight home and we weren’t far from another of the Netherlands’ best theme parks, Toverland. So, with tickets booked at 11pm, we were filled with renewed excitement for a spontaneous trip to another of our favourite parks. Wednesday dawned a bright and sunny day, and we set off eager to discover yet another new park for a lot of us in the group. As we approached Toverland, our faces lit up upon seeing the tremendous Troy standing tall on the horizon. Even if the outdoor areas of the park were closed due to winter maintenance, just being able to see such an iconic coaster in person felt special - a lot of us for the first time, but it never loses that effect on repeat visits.

Sadly we could only stay for about an hour and a half due to having to travel to the airport, but this didn’t spoil our fun, as the park was so quiet that it felt like we had the warehouses to ourselves. It was so much fun to be able to watch our friends’ reactions upon entering Land Van Toos; the area has such a charming and quaint feel. Our first port of call was a Toverland tradition for us - the Magic Hat! It never gets old watching our friends try to scramble to the top and slide back down. Next we took three rides on Toos Express with a whole train to ourselves, high on laughter as we raced through the building. Our breaths were taken away as we stepped into Magic Forest - we got goosebumps hearing the tantalising twinkles echoing throughout the warehouse, each of us taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the alluring alpine area. We were able to spend some time clambering through the colossal climbing frames, as well as the park’s fun house, Villa Fiasko. By far the highlight of Magic Forest for every one of us is Maximus’ Blitz Bahn, a powered bobsleigh that always takes you by surprise with how energetic and speedy it is, as well as its stunning theming. The park had some staggered openings due to it being a weekday in its quietest season, so we didn’t manage to get on Expedition Zork before we had to leave, but we were luckily able to ride Booster Bike twice before we rushed back to the car to catch our flight. It was definitely a whistle-stop visit, but all of us are looking forward to being able to return to the charismatic and charming Toverland!

Our trip came to a close on a big high; a spontaneous visit to a new park for most of us to a quiet Toverland was definitely a great way to round off our adventure to the Netherlands. Key highlights were certainly the Baron 1898 marathon at the end of day 2, experiencing some of Efteling’s beautiful rides during the winter evenings, witnessing the enormously energetic Aquanura show wrapping up the hectic park days, and being able to return to this gorgeous park during their winter season where the park truly does come to life.